Smoke from a car bomb (Photo: Joe Carr)

By Sheila Provencher
Christian Peacemaker Teams

The air was heavy today. Cloudy, oppressive, humid in a way that Baghdad almost never is. I feel the heaviness added to the weight of the recent explosions across the country. Yesterday, Wednesday, 71 people dead in car bombs in at least three cities.

$50 billion more asked for Iraq, Afghan wars
By Jim Wolf
Fri May 13, 2:53 PM ET

The Senate Armed Services Committee has recommended a further $50 billion be set aside to fund U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and the U.S.-declared global war on terrorism.

The proposed new war spending for fiscal 2006, which starts Oct. 1, would push the cost of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and its aftermath toward $250 billion, far ahead of initial expectations voiced by the Bush administration.

San Diego, TX–(HISPANIC PR WIRE)–May 10, 2005

The following statement was issued today by Navy Petty Officer Third Class Pablo Paredes prior to his court martial trial in San Diego on Wednesday:

Yesterday I formally entered a plea of “not guilty” to charges of unauthorized absence and missing movement stemming from my refusal to board the Iraq-bound ship USS Bonhomme Richard on December 6, 2004. I will be tried in a special court martial on 05/11/2005.

New York Sailor Who Refused to Ship Out for Persian Gulf Sentenced to Hard Labor
By Seth Hettena
Associated Press Writer

May 12, 2005, 6:11 PM EDT

SAN DIEGO — A New York sailor was sentenced to three months of hard labor Thursday for refusing to ship out for the Persian Gulf in a protest against the war in Iraq.

Pablo Paredes was also demoted from petty officer third class to seaman recruit, the lowest rank in the Navy.